Apparatus for handling loose material



Oct. 2, 1928. 1,686,127 C. E. DAVIS APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LOOSE"MATERIAL Filed Dec. 30, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 E9222??? Czar/e5 6 D C. E.DAVIS APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 50, 1924 4sheets-Sheet v Char/as ZJ'Zness m M Oct. 2, 1928. 1,686,127

c. E. DAVIS A APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 30, 19244'Sheets-Sheet 4 i 15 T 12 if 17 ,JOO H & I n z V 5 showing. one: formin i atented fist. 2, "1928.

UNITED STATES 1 teet me mwe cir'n trns' E. avis, on" CHICAGO, ILtrNo' s,nssrenon io GOODMAN MANUFACTURING oomrm, or cmcaeo, ir-Lmors, aconrone'rron on ILLINOIS.

V APPARATUSTOR H-Annmne LOOSE MATERIAL.

Application fileeiiecemben 30,. 1924,. Serial no. 758,948. "Renewed;March 5, 192's. 1

loose material while it is-gathering. its load."

Thegprincipal object ofmy invention is to provide an improved apparatusof the class described and more specifically to provide improvements inthe construction of the auxiliary power operated means for forcing thescraper into the pile of loose. material to be gathered. f

The present invention presents"v certain inn.-

provements overthe apparatus disclosed; in

my, application bearing. Serial Number 638,232,. filedi'May 11, 1923.9.My invention may be. best understood. by reference to the accompanyingdrawings which it may be embodied. J

In these drawing-s1" Figure 1- lS.=a.Slde.Vl6W of the mobilexhead f-rameforming apart of the apparatus;

Figure2 is a plan View of the headframe" showing the scraper: incooperating position therewith and having. my improved formof propellingvarm applied thereto;

Figure is anenlarged. section taken on line: of Figure 2;

Figure- 4: is an enlargedisection taken. on line H of Figure3 ;f iFigure 5 is a detailof the ratchet mecha-' 'nism providing; drivingconnection between the tail rope drum.and the scraper propellingmechanism; and

Figures 6, 7 and Sare diagrams illustrating: the complete installationof-the scraper apparatus in a mine'and showing the parts in: the variouspositions assumed duringthe operation. thereof. I

My presentinvention contemplates the use of a reciprocable scraperadapted to have cooperative engagement with the head frame arranged inposition to providelateral bear ing for said scraper whereby thelatterisdirected into the pile of loosematerial to gather the same. In theform shown herewith this head frame comprises a mobile selfpropellingunit capable ofbeing steered and readily moved" from place to place inthe mine under its own power. It also includes draft devices or hoistlocated at a point remote therefrom 'connected with ahead rope forpulling the scraper forwardly, and in addition auxiliary power deviceson the head frame operable to move the. scraper forwardly about the headframe-only during the loading movement, i. e, while being directed .intothe loose materialfor gathering a load. Referring, now to the detailssho'wn in the drawings, the main elements of. the. apparatus include ahead frame 1 and a scraper 15 having a head" rope :16 anda tail rope 17.The scraper-I5 is preferably bottomless as shown herein although abottom may be provided. The head rope may be connected to the scraper inany suitable manner, as for instance througha bail 16 pivotallyconnected to cro'ssmembers 16 316 2:

assist in 'the'und'erstanding of the particular improvement forming thesubject matter of the present invention. Thev head frame isprovidedwith-amain frame lOsupported on a pair of'tractor wheels 12, 12,within'the main frame,and a steering wheel. 13, pivotally supported attherear end of the frame :10 to steer the apparatus.- Power devices aremounted on the head frame for positively'moving-the scraper in itsdigging and loading'movem'ent into the pile of material. Thesepowerdevices are preferably operable andcontrollable independently of thehead rope. In the form shown the scraper moving mechanism in.- cludes anarm 30', extending laterally from the head frame and carriedon-anannuljalr driving ring; 33'mounted concentrically with A;briefdescription of the headframe will i I i thecurved forwardiportion'll of the main 3 vide a bearingshoe a'djacentthe outer end of'the: arm'30and attachedthereto' a retain ing member 34 extending forwardlyin-toposiftion to engage the outer side of the scraper when the latter is inengagement with the propelling arm 30, as shown in Figure 1?. 3 As shownherein, the'retainingmember 34 and the bearing shoe' 31 are conformedtohfit the outer sideof the scraper thereby forming a pocket into whichthe scraper is guide d'when pulled rearwardlyv intoits initial loadingposition. The outer end of said retaining member. also provides asubstantial bearing near'the' forward. or cutting edge 22 of the scraperwhile-it is beingfpropelled forwardly i into the pile of loosematerial.A guideor sheave 32 is mounted adjacent the outer end f of the arm forengaging the tail rope 17.

. the tail rope drum 18 also mounted concentrio with the circularportion14 of the head frame, the power connections between said drivingringandrope drum being supplied through a ratchet device whereby they arerotated in unison by power applied to the drum. .Thesepower connectionswill now be --lescr1bed..

' A motor 40 is mounted on the head frame having two driving pinions 42and 43. The

' driving pinion'42 is meshed with the gear 44 associated with onemember 45 of a double clutch mechanism 46. The driving pinion 43 isconnected through the idlergear 47 with a gear48 associatedwith anothermember 49 of the double clutch mechanism. These clutch members45 and 49are looselymounted on a shaft and arev adapted to be selectively engagedby a pair of oppositely disposed cone clutch members 58, 59, featheredon the shaft 55 and movable in opposite directions to engage one or theother of said clutch members. The clutch member49, being driventhrough-the idler gear 47 asdescribed, af-

fords reversed movements" of the two clutch members 45 and 49 respectiveto each other so as to drive't-he shaft 55 inoppo'site directions, asdesired. v ,7 7

. The-shaft '55 extends 'rearwardly from this double clutch mechanismand has a worm .77 thereon, .engaginga coacting worm gear 78' oniahorizontalgshaft 79. Ai gearis keyed on thelatter shaft andis engaged.with a gearSlon theparal-lel shaft 82.. The gear f8l.is provided withsliding clutch members 84, 84 extending therethrough, and movable byashifter member into driving-engagement with a beveled pinion 86. Saidpinion is meshed 'with'a beveled gear 70 carrying a J spur gear 72meshedwith a toothed periphery may be of any suitab e construction.

73 of the upperdrum flange. The ratchet device connecting ro e drum 18with arm 30 For example, a pawl is pivotally mounted on said armadjacent the lower drum flange 36- and is adapted to engage in a seriesof notches 91, 91, formed about said'flange. The pawl is under tensionof a suitable spring 92. V The arrangement is such'that When thetailrope drum isdri'ven at low speed in a direction to unwind the rope,the pawl 90 engages one as of the notches 91, and the driving ring 33which carries arm, 30 and retaining member 34 will be rotated in unisonwith the drum to advance the scraper about 'the head frame.

Simultaneously, the tail rope will be untheloose material during.itsmoyement about the head frame.

'In the form shown a high speed driving connection to the tail rope drum18 is'a'lso provided from shaft 55 throughthe follow ing mechanism: g VA gear'65 keyed on shaft 55 is meshed with a gear 66keyed on a parallelshaft 67. Sliding clutch 68 is feathered on the latter shaft, and isadapted: in one'position to operatively engage a bevel pinion 69 meshedwith the beveled. gear 7 O. This last named gear also comprises a partof the low speed connection be fore described, and from this point onboth high and low speed connections to the drum are the same, includingthe upright shaft 71 and spur gear 72 meshed with toothed flange 73 ofthe tail rope drum 18. By. means of the high speed gearing justdescribed the drum 18 may be driven in a direction to-wi nd in'the tailrope ata relatively highspeed after the scraper has been unloadedand isbeing returned empty to loading position at the head. frame.

The power connections for propelling the i head frame need not bedescribed in detail as 7 they form no part of the present invention.

After'a load has been discharged from the scraper at the room entry, thelatter :is returned to its initial starting position adjacent thearms 80and 34-by means of the tail rope 17, at high speed. To counteract theshock resulting to the-entire head frame from this contact it has beenfoundadvisable to provide an absorbent therefor. .In theform shown thiscomprises ametal block member 100 preferably bolted to the frame l justbeyond the rearmost' possible position'of the arm 80; A recess 101 isprovided in said block 100-into whichis fitted a suitable tensionspring-102 the forward end of which proj'ects'beyond the front surface"of said block: A finger member103 is suitably fastened ontheuppers-ur:face of the arm 30. This finger is adapted to engage the spring 102forcingit to contract into its receptacle 101. v 102 and the finger103are inconstant alignmentwith each other, the latter being suitablysecured to the rear of arm 30, thuslimiting the rearward movement ofsaid arm and less- Obviously the spring en the shock to said arm andhead frame when the former reaches its initial loading position as shownin Figure 1. i Y The usev and operat1on of the device herein describedwill be understood by reference: to V the diagrams in Figures 6, 7 and8, in which a head frame 11s shown operating lilttl'OOIIl 2 of a typicalroom and pillar mine. The

coal is successively dislodged inportions from the working face 3 at oneend of the room I and is loaded out by means of the scraper 15.

The head rope 16 of said scraper extends to the room entrance where itis attached to a suitable mine hoist or similarwinding device adapted tomove the scraper at a relatively high speed. The mine hoist is not shownherein as it forms no part of the pres-' ent invention. The tail rope 17is wound on the tail rope drum 18 carried by the head frame, as has beenheretofore described. In its initial loading position the scraper isdrawn rearwardly by the tail rope into the position shown in Figure 1,in which position the open end of said scraper faces the pile of loosematerial. In Figure 6 of the dia grams the scraper is shown while itsload is being gathered, having been propelled forwardly about the headframe by means of the low speed power connections on said head frameoperating through the propelling arm 30. It will be observed that duringthis operation the retaining member 34 on the propelling arm is inposition to support the outer and front edge 22 of the scraper andretains the scraper in close bearing engagement with the front end ofthe head frame. This arrangementis found to be an improvement over thedevice heretofore utilized for this purpose as for instance, in the formdisclosed in my prior application a hook or projection WZISPI'OVlClGClon the drivmg ring to engage the inner slde of the scraper. By reason ofthe arcuate movement of the scraper under propulsion as described, thescraper has a tendency to swing outwardly and away from the head frame.This tendency is effectively overcome without the use of hooks or otherengaging devices on the inner side of the scraper. The improved form: ofretaining member 34 is also advantageous in receiving the scraper whenit is returned into. engagement with the propelling arm and'the headframe, for example, as shown in Figure .8, n which figure the tail rope17 is under tension and the scraper 1s guldedv into engagement with saidpropelling arm 30. by

I claim as my inventioni 1. In an apparatusof the class described, amovable head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearingengagement with said head frame while being moved thereabout, andauxiliary power means on said head frame for moving sald scraperthereabout including a laterally projecting arm extending around therear end of the scraper to engage the outer side thereof ad jacent theforward end thereof.

2. In an apparatus of the class described,

a movable head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearingengagement with said head frame whlle belng moved thereabout, andauxiliary power means on said head frame for moving said scraperthereabout including a laterally projecting.

arm extending around the rear end ,of the scraper to engage the outerside thereof at a point substantiallyv more than half way I from therear end of the scraper.

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

a movable, head frame, a draft operated scraper having lateral bearingengagement with the head frame while being loaded, and J auxiliarypowermeans on said head frame for propelhng said scraper, includ ng arotative annular member carrying a laterally projecting arm extendingabout the rear end of said scraper and engaging the outer side thereofat a point substantially more than 4 half way from the rear end thereof.

4. In an apparatus of the class described,

a movable head frame, a draft operated scraper havinglateral bearingengagement with the head frame while being loaded, and auxiliary powermeans on said head frame for propelling said scraper including alaterally projecting arm and a detachable member extending forwardlyabout the outer side of said scraper and en'gaging'the same adjacent theforward end thereof. V p

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a .movable head frame, adraft operated scraper having lateral bearing engagement with said headframe while being moved thereabout, auxiliary power meanson said headframe for moving said scraper 'thereabout including a laterallyprojecting arm extending around the rear end of the scraper to engagetheouter side thereof adjacent the forward end thereof, and resilientbumper means interposed between said head-frame and said arm. Y Signedat Chicago, in the county of Cook I and State of Illinois, this 27thday, of Decemher, A. D. 1924. v

I CHARLES E. DAVIS.

